


Social Crush

by GabyElle



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Eventual Romance, Fluff, M/M, Romance, Social Media
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-09
Updated: 2019-08-09
Packaged: 2020-08-13 09:06:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20171716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GabyElle/pseuds/GabyElle
Summary: Lance is getting sick of being single. Everyone around him seems to be happy with their dating life. Until one miserable day turned into a life-changing one when he stumbled upon Shiro's Instagram page, who has quite a following in the social media platform that basically deems an Instagram model. And from there, he becomes a fan of Shiro that lead to something so much more.





	Social Crush

**Author's Note:**

> I had an absolute blast participating this Bang. And also finally written Shance fic. (Because I absolutely love them so much they're so pure). I met some amazing people in the community and also my team for helping me out with this fic. I have to thank my beta [Jordy](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/jordy-g21) for taking the time to read my fic. 
> 
> And I have to thank my artist [MultiE](https://twitter.com/MultiEleonora96) for your time and effort in creating the art for this event. Her art is amazing you guys, go follow she deserves every ounce of love! (EDIT : The [art](https://twitter.com/MultiEleonora96/status/1159763417508569088) has been posted!)

Lance has never been in a relationship before and doesn’t appreciate being single or being a third wheel either. So, watching his friends around him being happy with their significant other made him feel almost left out.

To have someone to hold hands with, go on a date, talk about life, cuddle, make out, all that cliche things that couples do. Just thinking about it, only made Lance jealous deep down.

Try online dating they say. But call him old-fashioned, Lance prefers the good old meeting someone for the first time and let the relationship blossomed from there, besides, he’s not taking any chances of trusting people whom they claim they are behind the screen, too sketchy.

And speaking about his own life in general, Lance hates his job as a waiter in a decent restaurant with a fair share of customers come and go, which means he still gets paid, thank goodness. But having to tolerate angry and unsatisfied customers about the food or the service is what tested his patience. It’s not like Lance is in charge of the cooking, the most he could at least do was sincerely apologise while putting a fake smile and  _ tried _ not to throw food right at their faces. Lucky for him, he has a charm behind the smile, at least that’s what he got complimented for.

But even if the job does suck for him, Lance didn’t have any choice left, he needed a job to support himself, the bills and a roof over his head aren’t going to pay by itself.

So for now, he just has to toughen up keep going. At least stay on this job for a couple of more months before he decides to go job hunting. He can’t serve tables forever.

At the end of the night shift, Lance could finally go home and have the opportunity to have his relaxation time, to hang out with his friends that he’s so looking forward to for.

_ “Hunk, you still up for video game night? Stopping by at your place soon.”  _ Lance texted.

Not long later, Lance’s phone chimed.  _ “Sorry man, but Shay’s here tonight. Perhaps some other time?” _

Lance shouldn’t be surprised upon reading the text and rolled his eyes, to have your friend bailed on you to be with his girl. But at the same time, he shouldn’t be stopping Hunk by interfering with his dating life.

_ “You owe me big time.” _ Lance replied back.

He tried to look at it from the bright side, at least Lance could have a  _ date _ with Netflix, binging movies all he wants by himself, the best form of entertainment that could offer.

Nothing beats the comfort in his own home, with a bowl of warm popcorn fresh from the microwave, he couldn’t resist the smell of fresh butter, just how he likes it.

And so his Netflix movie marathon begins. Besides, Lance needed to catch up with the episodes of Stranger Things before the new season releasing very soon.

***

The thing about a good series is that, it continuously keeps you at the edge of the seat, and as the episode progresses it continues to get better and better each time.

For Lance, he binged the entire season and while it made him feel completely satisfied, on the one hand, it left a void in his chest. Now, he’s feeling impatient for the new season to be out after that cliffhanger.

Lance doesn’t mind watching a couple of movies. Though, choosing a romantic movie was his unlikely choice. He’d always find romantic movies completely unrealistic along with it’s cliche and sappy plot. As he continued scrolling the list of movies, The Notebook caught his attention having vaguely heard of this movie that’s considered one of the well-loved iconic movie. Why not, right?

Two hours later, Lance was a complete sobbing mess at the end of the movie and practically outplayed himself by declaring that the movie wouldn’t tug strings in his heart. Lance curled up, arms around his knees on his sofa surrounded by crumpled tissues.

Thank goodness, he's alone or else it would be embarrassing for others to see him having an emotional breakdown over a movie.

All that hard crying took a toll on Lance, not only emotionally but physically exhausted as well. He flung the remove control aside after switching off his TV, that’s enough for tonight.

He laid his head against the armrest of his sofa, stretching his legs while casually scrolling on his phone, on Instagram to be precise.

The picture Hunk posted thirty minutes ago clearly showed his hand clasping Shay’s in a romantic gesture along with a simple caption of a heart sign.

He continued onto the next one showing another good friend of his, Allura standing with the wind blowing her hair behind the sunset. Has it ever dawned on Allura that she looks good in every photo posted on Instagram? And she’s not even trying, that alone made Lance a little jealous. Her caption was so poetic.  _ Beauty is everywhere,  _ it read.

Next was Pidge. Her post was very predictable to Lance, the photo revealed her staring intently at the computer screen with her hands hooked under her chin. No doubt, it’s Pidge attempting to do shady things with her talent with technology, things that will lead her into the worst kind of trouble. Her caption couldn’t be any more relevant with a meme reference.  _ Hacker voice: I’m in. _ Classic Pidge.

That’s all about it, a day in their lives captured in a photo. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words.

But Lance wasn’t done just yet and proceeded to navigate on the  _ Explore _ section of Instagram to view other user’s photos. And some of which are simply aesthetic that he couldn’t help but find some sense of fascination, some really good photography skills, something that Lance could never achieve. Some are just simply the lives that people went through by posting them on Instagram, at least he hoped that they’re happy.

He continued on with the scrolling further down and his heart instantly grew ten times more upon stumbling on animal photos. Who wouldn’t melt at the sight of animals being adorable? His thumb double-tapped on his phone screen to like some of the cute animal photos because it would feel so wrong if Lance doesn’t do so.

A yawn escaped from his lips before he could stop himself. Okay, his body is definitely telling him to go to bed and he glanced over to the time, it’s almost ten o’clock at night, but his brain told him otherwise instead and continued on surfing the app.

And that he did, his eyes skimmed through the many photos, so fast that something caught his eye that made him stop. Only for him to quickly scrolled back up to trace the photo that Lance hoped he remembered at least a little of what it looked like.

It took him awhile but eventually, he stumbled upon the photo. The only distinctive part that Lance remembered seeing the many shades of red, orange and yellow, which happened to be another sunset view just like Allura posted earlier.

But it wasn’t the sunset that took Lance’s attention and the hassle for him make the effort to scroll back up to find it. Rather, it’s the person in the photo instead.

The way the camera was angled in front with his arm stretched out and the sunset behind him. His other hand holding out the casual peace sign, and that smile.

There’s just something behind that smile. His caption reads a simple sunset emoji and Lance’s eyes widen at the number of likes on his post, it’s an impressive number and that matches the number of comments he got as well.

Lance got curious and clicked on his Instagram profile. His name is Takashi Shirogane, but otherwise his best known as “Shiro”. His bio reads _ “Fitness junkie, part-time model, loves travelling, foodie…” _ among others. This Shiro guy has quite a following, his Instagram photos are all various kind that describes the bio on his profile.

He's definitely a fitness guy for sure, Lance’s gaze lingered on Shiro’s physique. He couldn’t help himself but ogle over how big the size of his arm is. As Lance surveyed more of his many images, he stumbled a photo of Shiro’s torso and a bright smile with the rest of his face cropped out from the photo.

Immediately, he set his phone face down the feeling of embarrassment washed over Lance. It’s definitely foreign considering he never felt this way for a long time, not since high school. It’s also worth noting that his experience in high school made Lance realised how he feels about liking boys and girls at the same time. But even that, he still can’t find someone to be with.

But stumbling upon Shiro’s page did just enough to make him feel like a teenager again. After he calmed down, Lance flipped his phone over and kept scrolling. 

* * *

It’s the weekends' thank goodness, which means Lance didn’t have to report himself to work, allowing him to have a break and enjoy his day. It's a good thing considering that he stayed up later than he intended shamelessly scrolling Shiro the Instagram hottie’s profile. And he has _ lots _ of photos, almost a thousand to be exact. So active that it’s no surprise he has quite a fan following.

But that didn’t stop Lance to look at each and every photo of his, that he actually dozed off on his sofa only to wake up the next morning to find his phone fall out of his hand and landed on the floor.

Lance let out another yawn escaped from his lips, blinking away the tears from his eyes as he tried to stay awake.

A chime sounded off from his phone did just that to stop him from dozing off while seated upright. Taking a quick glance on the screen and he’s instantly awake, that along with a little jump his heart made upon reading the notification.

Shiro just posted a photo on Instagram, it reads. And he didn’t hesitate to click on it that directs him to the Instagram app.

Lance couldn't contain the instantaneous smile, considering that Shiro’s smile that’s so infectious and charming at the same time, lying on his bed revealing his bare shoulders that without a doubt shirtless under the sheets.

While it may be an innocent photo or not, it’s up to interpretation. Though the comments on the other hand that started flooding were consisting mostly of  _ thirst. _ Lance couldn’t help but agree with most of the comments, Shiro is indeed a snack.

“You’re smiling on your phone. What are you even smiling about?” Pidge asked aloud, surprising him from behind.

Not sure if Pidge even realised it, but she’s pretty good at sneaking behind people without them noticing, perhaps it’s due to her short height. No way, Lance will be telling Pidge those things because; 1. She’s going to take that as a huge compliment and surely be using that  _ skill _ of hers to annoy the heck out of him. 2. She’s going to kill him for commenting about her height.

“Nothing.” Lance quickly denied shoving his phone back into his pockets.

“That clearly looked nothing to me.” Pidge pointed out. “Not to mention, you have that look on your face. “Someone is making you smile, _ “the boyfriend is making you smile”  _ kind.”

“Lance has a boyfriend?” Hunk came up behind Pidge.

“I don’t have a boyfriend.” Lance raised his voice, “Sadly.” He mumbled again.

“Then, what’s with that smile?” Pidge asked again.

Lance wasn’t so sure if he should tell them. In fact, they were the closest people he could tell his problems too. When he finally discovered his sexual orientation, they're the first people to be informed, and they accepted him with open arms. But for this case, it's a likely chance they're going to judge him and call him crazy for being attracted to an internet model.

“I found someone online, but not in a way that you would expect.” Lance started off.

Hunk and Pidge looked at each other puzzled. And Lance gave himself a moment before pulling his phone out from his pockets again to reveal Shiro to them.

“Lance, this is a model.” Hunk mentioned.

“I know I happen to stumble upon his page and…, I don’t know something about him just attracts me.” Lance explained.

“You do know that what you see online doesn’t reflect what these social influencers do behind the camera? They might not be what you see.” Pidge advised.

She’s right. Not even the hundred photos that he’d seen of Shiro would tell the real truth of his life behind the screen. But based on Shiro’s personality alone, there's just something that Lance felt about him is genuine.

“It’s pretty amusing to see Lance having a crush again. Just don’t be an internet creep.” Hunk added. “I mean, it’s not like you’re trying to look up his address and be waiting outside his house because that would be terrifying in a stalkerish way.”

“It’s not a crush. I simply just find him attractive, it’s not always you see a person this good looking anywhere on the streets. Besides, who do you think I am? There’s no way I would go that far!” Lance defended himself.

Hunk and Pidge looked at each other, “We know.” They spoke together. “You tend to be picky when it comes to dating people.”

“That isn’t true! I just have a certain taste in finding the right one.” Lance explained himself.

“More like you have a high expectation of your ideal partner.” Pidge commented.

“No, I don’t!” He defended.

“Umm…, yes you do, Lance.” Hunk agreed with Pidge. “Honestly Lance, you should consider setting the bar a little lower.” He demonstrated with the gap between his index finger and thumb that's barely touching.

“Fine…” Lance groaned, “I can’t believe I’m taking relationship advice from you guys.”

***

Days turned into weeks rather quickly without Lance even realising it. And yes, he’s still actively following Shiro, so much that he decided to turn on notification alert each time Shiro posted a photo on Instagram and to see his posts first thing Lance logged into the app.

He might just have to eat his own words now, by now his attraction had grown into a crush. Something that he couldn't possibly admit it out loud, he can't help it. Since that night he stumbled upon his page, Shiro made his days so much better than before.

Shiro is constantly smiling. How does he do that with that big personality of his? Though Lance should know better not to judge someone by a series of photos and videos he knows that Shiro is a heart of gold.

The recent photo that Shiro posted showed him standing by the pier with the beach behind him, dressed in a tank top that’s displayed his broad shoulders and large biceps, something that Lance would never get tired of at time same time he hates that Shiro looks good without him even trying.

Lance also noticed based on many of his photos which he scrolled the last time, that Shiro loves going to the beach a lot. So they have something in common because it’s something that Lance like as well. However, that was months ago. Since he got the job serving tables, he couldn’t have those sunset walks at the beach anymore. 

With his eyes closed, Lance envisioned himself there with the wind blowing against his face, into his hair, inhaling the smell of the salty sea, his feet digging into the soft sand, feeling the cold seawater that felt so soothing along with the sound of the waves crashing against the shore. Even in his mind, it felt real. Oh, he missed the beach so much.

His eyes opened and let out a quiet sigh, is this how his life would turn out? Not experiencing the little moments anymore?

Glancing back at his phone again, something within him suddenly compels him to do the one thing that he hasn’t done since discovering Shiro’s profile.

He tapped on the keyboard and his fingers began typing,  _ “Lovely view.” _ His first comment. It sounds simple that served as a double meaning in reference to the view of the beach and Shiro himself.

Lance didn’t expect Shiro to read or reply back, which he'd done occasionally to interact with his fans. While Lance silently wished that Shiro would reply to his comment, but for now he's going to treat it a simple act of gesture that would make someone’s day.

Ever since discovering Shiro, he's been filled so much positivity. So much that he couldn’t exactly recall when was the last time he felt this way and it’s amusing that it happened to be someone on the internet contributing to it.

Until he remembered that he has to work tonight, and just like that the positive energy faded away rather quickly causing himself to groan out loud. Lance really hate going back there.

His gaze lingered on his coffee table when he noticed the newspaper in front of him, he reached over and started flipping through the pages until he found the classified section.

He can’t stand another day working at that restaurant any longer, it’s about time for him to seek out a new direction in his life.

* * *

“You quit your job at the restaurant?” Hunk asked with the sheer surprise.

“Yup.” Finally, Lance is brave enough to admit it out loud.

“Wow, I mean… good for you. It’s about time but at the same time, I didn’t expect you to finally leave that place.” Hunk was still in disbelief.

Lance wasn't entirely impressed with Hunk's response to that, “It’s not that surprising, Hunk.”

“You’re right, I’m sorry. So, what’s your new job?”

Lance hesitated, “I haven’t found one yet…”

“You quit your job before finding a new one?” Hunk asked in disbelief.

“I know that’s not a wise thing to do, but I’m desperate here. I’m still trying to figure out what to do with my life, and I’m not even sure what I'm good at.” Lance confessed.

Hunk's face turned into sympathy for his friend, “Cheer up, Lance. It’s not the end of the world.”

He sighed, “I just need to find somewhere that I can be in my own personal bubble.”

It’s something that Lance didn’t realise it before when he was working in that restaurant. He missed the peace and quiet environment, something that Lance didn’t appreciate before.

And he tried not to take it too personally or a sense of jealousy that his friends have better jobs than him. Hunk is pretty good with cooking and he’s currently working in the kitchen at an expensive restaurant (with a top class reputation compared to the restaurant Lance worked in) and determined to climb his way up to eventually given the opportunity to start cooking the food he always wanted to serve the customers for, and with enough experience Hunk dreams of opening his own restaurant someday.

Pidge is currently working as a computer technician in a company, she seems pretty content with her job, while Lance expected her to work in Google because of her talented skills with computers. But that’s not going to be a good idea considering her second life as a hacker (something between the small group of them only knew), will serve as a security risk.

Allura is in the running of taking over her father’s business company in the near future. A business that’s been passed down by generations and at such a young age just proves that she has the potential to run a corporate company.

Everyone except him is successful in their lives and it felt so discouraging.

After hanging out with Hunk, Lance decided to make his way back home while trying his best not to feel let down.

It’s been days since he quit his job and he hasn’t found the job he wanted, even with the time he spent skimming through the classified pages proved no luck as some of the jobs offered is not cut out for him with the skills required.

Lance stood at the sidewalk casually waiting for the traffic to turn red so he could cross the road when he noticed the bookstore located at the other side. But it’s the notice plastered against the window that reads “HIRING” in big, bold letters took his interest immediately.

He's completely distracted until he didn't realise the pedestrian light turns green with the timer that began ticking that eventually snapped Lance out of his thoughts and began to cross the road at the same time curious of the hiring post that’s plastered on the bookstore.

The job posting is pretty straight forward, the bookstore was seeking a bookkeeper to handle the store, for part-timers. And that alone certainly piped him no doubt, he never considered himself to be working in a bookstore but beggars can't be choosers right now.

***

As it turns out, working in the bookstore is so much better than he initially thought. Better than serving hot plates to customers, he wondered why he didn’t think of this sooner.

The bookstore owner is an elderly man and was so much kinder than the manager in the restaurant.

His job is pretty straight forward, arranging books, picking up new stock that arrived, sticking price tags among others. People who stepped into the store just love to linger around the bookstores in silence, it felt almost like being in a library.

Lance never felt lucky to get the job by sheer coincidence, not the kind of job he would have wanted but it’ll do for now.

At the end of his shift, the owner of the bookstore was kind enough to wish him goodbye that Lance wished him in return. He’s so polite that he could not just greet him back.

He flopped against his sofa and dug out a book from his backpack, it doesn’t serve as a surprise that Lance picked up reading from working there to the point that the owner even offered to borrow him a few books from his personal collection hidden away from the public in his office of the store, Lance didn’t have the heart to turn him down.

Flipping the page over to the next where Lance last left off and continue reading in silence. He was starting to get into the story until a chime from his phone alerted him.

Lance looked over at his phone and his heart skipped a beat upon seeing the notification.

_ Shiro started a live video. Watch it before it ends. _

He read it over again, just to make sure it's actually happening. And in a heartbeat, he tapped once on his phone waiting for the Instagram app to load up to the live feed.

A little gasp escaped from Lance’s lips, and Shiro appeared on his screen right in front of his eyes.

“Hi everyone.” Shiro greeted. “I hope everyone is doing great today.”

He heard his voice before on his short fifteen-second video and stories, but it still made his heart flutter how smooth and soft his voice is.

Just like that, Lance set the book aside and focused on his phone instead, he couldn’t help but glance over at the view count that had already reached hundreds and counting.

With his knees pulled up against his chest, his arms around his legs, Lance watched Shiro intently.

Thank goodness, Shiro had a shirt on or else he would be distracted by Shiro’s hot body, though the tank top he’s wearing revealed those biceps again. And he has impressive arms on him.

“This is the first time I actually did an Instagram live, I must say this is exciting.” Shiro spoke. “Let’s do something fun, ask me questions but keep it PG here, okay?” And then he joked and winked at the camera.

At that moment, Lance’s heart dropped out of his chest, how will he be able to handle this? His thumbs hover off at the keypad, trying to think of questions he could ask Shiro (if Shiro even going to read his message) but there's nothing he could think of. 

“Do you have pets, Shiro?” Shiro read out one of the questions, “Perfect timing.” He responded before walking off the frame, only for him to return with a large, fluffy white dog. So large that the dog basically took most off the screen.

“This is Luna the Samoyed. I just got her about a week ago, her original owners couldn’t care for her any longer and needed to rehome. And I offered to take her and here she is, I have to admit that it’s been a long time since I had a dog so it’s going to take some time. But that isn’t the point, isn’t she adorable?” Shiro gestured Luna’s face towards the camera.

However, Luna couldn’t keep still and excitedly licked Shiro’s face that he began laughing. Lance couldn’t stand the sight of that, it’s just simply too cute. His fans felt the same way either, with the comments flooding with heart emojis and the words  _ “cute”  _ written repeatedly.

“You guys, don’t mind Luna hanging out with me here, don’t you?” Shiro asked. “She’s a good girl.”

Shiro seemed to be having fun interacting with his fans, not once the smile faded off from his face. Lance had a dazed look, he could watch him all night.

“Can you sing?” Shiro read out another question from the fans. “I can but I’m not very good at it, unless you guys want to hear it.”

A series of  _ yes _ flooded the live feed instantaneously. “Alright, if you guys say so. Any song suggestions?” He replied.

Shiro read through the messages again for some suggestions, “Some of these are good songs, I don’t know which ones to pick.” His eyes scanned over the chat for a few moments more before responding, “Okay, I made my choice.”

Lance wasn't prepared for it when Shiro began to sing, and he recognised that song all too well, Can I Be Him by James Arthur. Yet again, Shiro never failed to impress Lance even more, and he didn’t expect Shiro would have that kind of singing voice.

Takashi Shirogane couldn’t get any perfect, truly one of a kind.

Lance closed his eyes and just allowed Shiro's singing serenade him.

* * *

Lance couldn’t get it out of his head. It’s been days since Shiro’s live video and it’s still ingrained in his mind, that each time he closes his eyes he sees Shiro’s radiant smile.

He never felt like this for a long time and completely clueless on how to deal with this. And it’s not like he could help himself and find it almost ridiculous that he’s fawning over Shiro.

And if others were to find out about his puppy love, he would allow himself to bury himself alive six feet under.

He could still hear Shiro’s singing felt almost too surreal. So much so that he pretty much dreamt of Shiro singing in his dream.

Lance had to put his thoughts aside the moment he entered the bookstore, new books came in today and his duty is to remove the books out of the box and placed into its respective shelves, according to the genre.

“Lance?” A feminine voice called out to him, that sounded too familiar, he turned his gaze over to the person and his smile broke instantly.

“Allura!” Lance exclaimed and walked up to her. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m just stopping by to look for a few books. Do you work here?” She asked curiously.

“Yeah, just recently. Quit my job at the restaurant.” Lance explained.

Allura looked surprised, “We must talk, it’s been a while since we last saw each other. Lunch later?”

“Of course!” He responded, how could he not say no to a good friend.

***

And true to her words, together they decided to make their way to the nearest cafe to catch up.

Allura glanced at her watch, “We got one hour, so let’s make it count.” She told.

“I appreciate you actually take the time to hang out with me.” Lance began.

She waved her hand like it's no big deal, "You're a good friend, Lance. How can I not spare an hour to interact? Besides, I miss you, Hunk and Pidge."

He smiled at her in return and switch the conversation, “I guess we should start with you? How’s handling your father's company that coming along?”

“I’m going to be honest, it’s harder than it looks. I think my father is putting a lot of faith in me and I am trying my best. This is the family business after all, and I can’t let him down. Luckily, Lotor has been really supportive and understanding, I couldn’t be any grateful enough.” Allura told.

While, Lance was glad that Allura opened up her struggles to him but despite that, he knew that she's strong and capable of herself to achieve her goals.

“You’ll do great, I know you can. Think about it, you’re on your way of inspiring many young girls out there, representing women. I’m pretty sure your father will be proud of you.” he reassured.

It’s something that Allura needed to hear some words of encouragement and it worked, her gaze locked on Lance with a soft smile. Reaching her hand out and placing over his arm, the expression of her eyes was gentle, “Thank you, Lance. Now I feel so much guilt that I didn’t have the time to be with you and the others.”

“Hey, it’s okay. That’s the sad reality of stepping into adulthood. I mean, I still need to think of my future, which I’m still trying to figure out.” Lance confessed.

“But you seem to be doing well working in that bookstore, you look happy.” Allura continued.

“It’s only part-time to support myself with a roof over my head.” he mumbled.

“Let’s talk about something else.” She brushed away the serious topic over to the next, she placed her hand under her chin, “What’s going on with your life? Meet anyone new lately?”

Lance sulked in his seat at the mention of his lonely single life. “No…, unless you count having a crush on an internet personality.” He spoke almost sarcastically.

She looked at him questionably, “Whatever do you mean?”

Just like the last time with Hunk and Pidge, Lance showed his phone to Allura. But unlike both of them, Allura looked interested.

“Ooh, I can see why you like him. He’s cute.”

“Right?? Thank you, Hunk and Pidge don’t seem to agree with me.” He explained.

“I see nothing wrong with it, that’s the point of a  _ crush, _ isn’t it?”

“Apparently, they’re going to assume that I’m going to be those fanatics but, come on! I won’t go that far.”

“Well…” Allura trailed, “You can overreact at some occurrence. You’re that excited I would say.”

“Allura!” Lance gasped dramatically, “I have a decent sense of morals. I will only go as far as to view his entire photos but that’s innocent, right? Everyone does that.”

She had the look of hesitation with her mouth parted slightly for a moment before her lips sealed tightly, not wanting to comment on anything else.

One hour seemed so short, as they continued trading conversations that Allura was the first to realise that she needed to get back to her office, while Lance had to return to the bookstore.

But overall, it felt good for Lance to be able to speak with her again.

* * *

By the end of his shift, Lance was feeling as eager to get back home, saying his usual goodbye to the elderly owner of the bookstore and taking his normal route to his house, even walking past the beach that’s facing the road, with the sun setting overlooking the sea.

That sight alone made him paused in his tracks and standing at the sidewalk to observe the sunset sky with the many shades of red, orange, and yellow. The clouds looked beautiful that he could see the lining of the clouds contributed by the sun.

He walked along the same sidewalk every day but this time around, Lance found the sight truly something out of a photo that he figured to head his way to the beach and watch the sunset.

His feet dipped into the soft sand as he approached closer to the shore but still keeping its distance away from the crashing water. Lance welcomed the cold breeze against his face that he couldn't help himself and sat down on the sand.

He took his phone out and took a quick snapshot of the sight, perfect to be posted on Instagram.

And he watched in silence as the sun continued to dip down on the horizon, feeling completely at peace. Why didn’t Lance decide to come to the beach right after work? He did miss it, but why hasn’t he act upon it?

His moment of inner peace was abruptly disrupted when a large dog crashed onto him, so much that he fell back against the sand. The dog is so large and heavy was crushing Lance under its weight.

“Luna!” A male’s voice shouted from a distance away. Lance couldn’t help but wonder why did that name sound so familiar?

The impact from the dog took the air out of him, he clearly underestimates the strength of this active dog.

“I’m sorry about that. Luna is an active girl, I’m still trying to keep her under wraps.” The stranger continued.

With his voice closer, loud and clear. Lance still couldn’t pinpoint exactly where he'd heard that voice before. When he felt the weight of the dog left his body, he let out a groan rubbing the side of his head.

He sat upright to get the rest of his bearings, he opened his eyes to only see a hand held out in front of his face. He stared at it for a moment before letting his eyes drift to the person’s face.

He must have hit his head pretty bad and clearly dreaming because there’s absolutely no way, that this person that’s standing right in front of him must be a doppelganger or a look-alike because he looks almost like Takashi Shirogane. But he couldn't exactly tell with the shades concealing the person's eyes. 

“Are you hurt?” he asked again, his voice smooth and comforting just how Shiro would have sounded like.

Lance was in a complete daze and was staring for far too long that he quickly came to his wits and took his extended hand and pulled himself up, dusting the sand off from his body.

“Sorry again, Luna gets this excited when we’re at the beach.” "Shiro" continued.

“I-It’s no big deal.” Lance spoke politely, glancing over at the fluffy white dog playfully digging into the sand. If he could recall what dog breed she is.

“But I swear, she’s a good girl. I just got her, and it’s been a while since I had a dog and it’s going to take some time to fully adjust to being a responsible owner.

That’s almost what Shiro said in his video the last time. Luna continued digging a few holes nearby with her head down sniffing and looking around, searching until the dog looked delighted and found a ball.

Lance couldn’t think of the answer in his mind until he eventually gave up and asked him instead, “What kind of dog is she?”

“A Samoyed.” He responded back.

By now, Lance couldn't keep it to himself and decided to ask him instead, “Not trying to be creepy or anything but you look familiar.” Lance spoke politely.

“I get that a lot.” He responded almost sheepishly, “I’m an internet personality on Instagram, I got called as an Instagram model when actually I don’t see myself that way, I do a lot of things, travelling — which is my favourite pastime just as much as indulging myself into food.” Then, he removed his shades to reveal his face. Enough for Lance to gasp audibly.

“I was right. You’re Shiro, aren’t you?” Lance uttered interrupting him. “I mean, I just recently followed you, and I think you’re pretty cool.” He spoke spontaneously that he didn't realise the heat began to spread on his cheeks. He felt silly that he’s been actively following Shiro so frequently that he failed to even recognise him in public. Just thinking about it made him cringe.

“So you’re a fan?” Shiro asked curiously.

“You could say that.” Lance responded sheepishly.

“I must say I feel honoured to meet one of my fans.” Shiro added.

“I just… didn’t think all those photos of the beach you took would be this one.” Lance recalled the many photos on Shiro’s Instagram.

“That’s true… but I go to other beaches, some much further away from here and other parts of the world.” Shiro explained further.

Lance couldn’t get anymore awed, the little part of him wished that he have the opportunity to at least explore the world out there.

“What about you?” He asked Lance, “Come to the beach often?”

“I used to.” He admitted. “But today I find the sunset so lovely I thought of staying for a little while.

“So do I.”

The energy in Lance is still buzzing with excitement. He still finds it hard to believe he's standing in front of Shiro's presence, just mere feet away from each other. How truly lucky for Lance to stumble upon him and that Shiro frequented this beach a lot that goes to show truly how small the world is, which also means that Shiro most likely lives around here.

Luna made a little whine that drew Shiro’s attention away from Lance, “I think Luna had her fun today now. Not to mention, the sun is gone as well.” Shiro glanced at the sea.

Lance looked out at the sea as well but only for a moment before shifting his view back to Shiro again. God, even up close he's so good looking.

“Well, it’s nice meeting you. Who knows maybe we’ll bump into each other again.” Shiro added.

Lance had to restrain himself from nodding like an excited small child over the idea of having to see Shiro again got him bubbling with excitement. “Y-Yeah.” He forced the words out of his mouth.

Shiro waved goodbye and he walked away with his Samoyed, Lance’s gaze never leaving him. He let out a huge sigh, for a moment there he forgot how to breathe before a chuckle escaped from him.

Patting both of his cheeks repeatedly with his eyes closed to wake himself up from this dream he's clearly having. Upon opening his eyes, Lance saw that the sky has turned purple and he could still feel the rapid thumping of his heartbeat, was that just pure adrenaline or just his nerves? Allowing himself to recompose his thoughts. It was definitely real, he met Shiro and talked to him.

Lance made an inhuman noise at the back of his throat and now he’s hyperventilating. He met Takashi Shirogane.

* * *

He found himself unable to sleep for days, each time he tried to do so he stayed up wide awake and his mind continuously played the moment on the beach. To see Shiro’s face just mere feet away from each other got him blushing so hard that he involuntary covered his face with his hands. The thrill clearly didn’t wear off from Lance.

Meeting Shiro certainly improved his mood, maintaining a smile on his face for days and it proved to be a helpful tactic to welcome customers that entered into the bookstore.

And each time his work ended, Lance would stop by at the beach, in hopes that he would see Shiro again.

But after that day, there are no signs of Shiro as Lance continued to wait until the sun is gone and he got on his feet to head back home, telling himself tomorrow.

Tomorrow came, work in the morning, late evening at the beach, still no Shiro. Lance told himself again tomorrow, and it continued until the third day which only made him self-aware that he’s acting desperate in a way of how an out of control fan would do, he swore to himself that he would never become one of them.

_ Just one more day, if he doesn’t come back to the beach, I’ll stop.  _ He told himself almost like a promise.

The fourth day came only for Lance to be met with disappointment.  _ What were you even thinking, Lance? Do you really think he would come back?  _ His doubts spoke out for him, giving him no choice for Lance to accept that with a heavy heart.

It didn’t do much justice that Shiro didn’t post any photos since the day Lance met him. He finds it odd and wondered if everything’s okay with Shiro.

He stood on the book ladder, arranging and slotting new books that came into the shelves. It’s worth noting that this bookstore has tall bookshelves almost like the ones in the library. From nearby, he heard the front door opened with the familiar bell rang out signalling a customer walked in.

“Welcome!” Lance greeted, his eyes focused on the shelf, it’s hard to maintain balance with a couple of books with one hand while struggling to put the books in one by one and not fall over.

“Hi, if you don’t mind I could use some assistance.” 

“Sure, if you give me a moment.” Lance spoke and turned his attention to the customer. Just one look to find out that it was Shiro that entered into the bookstore, immediately his body stopped functioning that caused him to lose his footing and tripped over from the ladder. Feeling helpless, Lance shut his eyes tight and brace for the painful impact.

But instead, nothing happened. He takes a brave peek and looked up only to find himself staring into a pair of eyes.

His mind was completely blank, until Shiro’s voice spoke through him, “Are you okay?”

Shiro had caught him and being held in his arms, he was completely stunned that he couldn’t even utter a single word, their faces were too close.

A moment later, Shiro smile. Lance had to pull himself together not to pass out in his arms like some damsel in distress. “It’s you again, what a surprise.”

_ He remembered me. _ Lance thought to himself that made him so thrilled. And all he could muster was a soft “Hi, thanks for catching me.” The words left his lips, that he couldn’t help but wince at that lame reply.

Shiro chuckled, what a lovely sound that was. “Glad I save you just in time. You alright standing by yourself?”

It’s with that Lance came to his grips and helped himself by standing. To make things less awkward, he asked Shiro, “What are you doing here?”.

“I’m looking for a book, I was hoping that you’ll be able to help me.” Shiro responded.

What a pleasure would it be to help him out. “Sure. I basically know my way around the bookstore here. I'm pretty sure I can find books which you're interested in. It’ll be quick.”

Shiro wanted to get travelling books which isn’t so surprising to Lance and he led him to the many books about travel he could offer. Lance tried not to stare too much at Shiro.

He laid the many selections of books right in front of Shiro that he picked out for him, that alone impressed Shiro greatly and decided to purchase all of the books. Lance guided Shiro back to the counter to get the payments settled. The silence grew thick between them, Lance wasn’t sure if he should ask Shiro the reason for his no show on the beach and absence on Instagram.

_ Small talk, Lance. Small talk. _ “How’s Luna?” He asked.

“She’s fine. Though she’s not being cooperative with me lately because I didn’t take her out for walks on the beach because I was so sick in bed for the whole week.” Shiro told.

There's the answer Lance was waiting for and it brought a sense of relief in him. All this time he’s been feeling stressed for no reason that Shiro had gone off the radar. There’s nothing for him to worry about.

“I’m sorry to hear that, I hope you’re better now.”

“I’m better than I’ve ever been. Luna, on the other hand, is as eager as ever to get out of the house.” Shiro added.

Lance said nothing more and handed the bag of books to Shiro. He reached over to get the bags from Lance when their fingers brushed against each other accidentally. It was an immediate reaction enough to made Lance felt the heat on his cheeks. It’s just a brush, why is he feeling this way?

He watched Shiro head out to the door but stop in his tracks and turned to Lance, “I’m sorry but I didn’t get your name.”

“L-Lance… I’m Lance.”

Shiro smiled, “It’s nice seeing you again, Lance.”

He continued observing Shiro until he was out of sight that he couldn't help himself and began squealing with excitement, to talk to Shiro for the second time felt almost too good to be true, almost impossible.

When night falls, Lance laid on his bed about to go to sleep when his phone pinged with a notification, an update from Shiro’s Instagram.

_ Sorry I haven’t been around lately. Caught a bug for a week but now I’m feeling so much better. _ The photo attached showed Luna taking the spotlight in front of Shiro, with both of his hands holding onto Luna’s foreleg up to give the impression that she’s waving at everyone.

Honestly, could Shiro get any cuter? Lance tapped on his screen and typed  _ “Good to see you back… and Luna too :D” _

Lance placed his phone down beside him to get some sleep but his phone dinged with a new notification, “ _ Do you happen to be the same Lance from the bookstore and the beach?” _

The message startled Lance so much that he immediately rose from his bed and read back the message to be sure that it wasn’t a joke or his imagination. Reading it over and over, to be absolutely sure that it's actually legit and not some seemingly fake account.

But it’s the real deal, Shiro actually private messaged him. Honestly, how much more of surprises can Lance take from him at this point?

He gulped thickly and decided to play it cool and began composing a reply back, “ _ How can you be sure? ;D.” _ There’s nothing wrong with that kind of reply, he used it all the time, a harmless little tease along with a winky face.

Shiro was quick,  _ “There are many Lances out there. And I did what’s necessary to confirm my suspicions I look through your Instagram until I found selfie photos of you, and you post a lot.” _ And another line he posted just after the first one,  _ “I hope that you don’t find that stalkerish.” _

The irony. Lance felt the familiar rush of heat spread through him, it wasn’t that long ago that Lance did that on Shiro’s page, he had no clue. At the same time, he doesn't know how to feel knowing Shiro took the time looking through his photos.

_ “No! Not at all. You wanted to be sure that you didn’t end up talking to a stranger with the name Lance.” _

Lance had no clue why Shiro would message him, he wondered if Shiro interacted with any of his fans… or it’s just him. Lance silently wished he’s the only one that Shiro talked to.

He laid back against his bed, comfortably and went back to continuously texting Shiro.

* * *

He felt better than he’s ever been, Lance’s smile was radiant. He spent hours, sacrificing sleep chatting with Shiro. However, the lack of sleep didn’t affect him in any sort of way, in fact, it got him more excited.

Lance wondered what made Shiro decided to message him? Because really, he isn’t anyone special, just a casual fan who happens to bump into Shiro twice by sheer coincidence. What was on Shiro’s mind when he was on his phone typing those messages? The impression that Lance gave to Shiro?

He recalled the conversation they had last night. It felt genuine real, they exchanged stories about their lives with Lance avoiding the mention of his future.

Deep down he wanted to see Shiro again, but afraid that his frequent presence would give him a bad impression that he will eventually see Lance as a crazy fan.

A chime from his phone that surprised him almost immediately that he scrambled to get his hands on it. Lucky for Lance, he’s the only person around the bookstore.

_ “So here’s a funny story.”  _ Shiro wrote.

A smile curled on Lance’s lip and he responded back to Shiro,  _ “Amuse me.” _

_ “I kind of want to eat ice cream?” _

Shiro’s response raised eyebrows for Lance.  _ “So get yourself an ice cream. I don’t think you would need to tell me.” _

Lance shook his head at Shiro’s silliness and set his phone aside to sort out the transactions of the previous purchases made in the bookstore.

The message didn’t come in until minutes later, but Lance had to restrain himself not to reply back immediately that would give the impression of being desperate.

“Here’s a little confession: I haven’t had ice cream for a while.”

His statement puzzled Lance even more, _ “How long is a while?” _

_ “Roughly about a year or two.” _

That has to be a joke, enough for Lance to burst out laughing in the bookstore.

_ “Are you serious?! You’re abstaining from eating ice cream?” _

_ “Don’t make fun of me!” _

How could Lance not? Who knew Shiro would be this amusing?  _ “Never in my wildest days, I would come across a person that would stay away from ice cream.” _

Shiro didn't respond after and it continued like that, Lance thought for a moment there that he might have unintentionally hurt his feelings.

Until an image attachment was sent to him, a photo of Shiro pouting. The expression looked too cute on him that Lance couldn't handle it, his weakness.  _ “You're mean.” _ He wrote.

_ “Don't give me that look.” _ It's not fair for Shiro to be doing the pouting face to win Lance’s heart.

_ “It's my secret weapon, works every time.” _

No way Lance will give Shiro the credit.

_ “It's not fair.” _

_ “But it's you that's bullying me.” _

Lance rolled his eyes, Shiro is acting like a big baby.

_ “Would it make you feel better if we get ice cream later?” _ Lance wrote the message so quickly without thinking that instant regret came over him, moments later. He basically asked a Shiro to hang out with him.

But Shiro surprised Lance with  _ “Yes, please. :)” _

Lance leapt with absolute joy.

***

This time it was Shiro who suggested meeting at the beach. Again, Lance read the message repeatedly which by now has become a habit, enough to make him all jumpy and excited again.

It kept Lance on the edge of his toes, just waiting for his working hour to end so he could dash out and head to the beach.

And he did just that when the hour was up, he makes the break for it.

When he got there, the sun was just starting to set and Shiro was nowhere in sight.

Lance took a couple of breaths to calm his rapid heartbeat from the running and the excitement.

He needed to get a grip together, it’s not like they’re going on a date. Lance had to tell himself this is no date, not even in the slightest.

Pulling his phone out of his pocket, Lance was about to drop Shiro a message when he felt a bump on his leg. Looking down, a large white fluffy dog greeted him, Lance recognised her almost instantly.

“Luna!” He expressed his joy and gave her a good rub, his hands buried under her thick fur. She enjoyed it a lot.

“I gotta say, it hurts seeing your dog having more attention to people she barely met more than her owner.” Shiro commented.

Their eyes met and Lance did his best not to blush at his presence. “I say it's an honour.” He spoke back.

“Are you going to stand around and continue making my life miserable or we're getting ice cream?”

“Oh, how silly of me. A big baby that has not taken ice cream for years now.” Lance teased.

There's no stopping him and somehow he's starting to get bolder around Shiro. And it was worth seeing the pouty look on Shiro’s face again.

Lucky for them, there’s an ice cream stand nearby that they managed to get their hands on just before closing up the stall for the day.

Lance also found it amusing that he chose vanilla ice cream while Shiro got himself chocolate flavoured, the stark difference.

While he enjoyed his ice cream quietly, he sneakingly steals glances at Shiro beside him for a quick second before glancing back on his ice cream. He didn’t want to be caught staring too long.

Then, he heard a moan emitted out from Shiro’s lips. The kind of moan that sounded so wrong in his ears, enough to send other kinds of thoughts that would make him blush. Lance had to tell himself to get a grip and not allow his thoughts to wander _ that _ far.

He pretended not to hear that and continued with his ice cream.

“I’ve been missing out so much, that I forgot ice cream taste this good. Has it really been years?” Shiro thought aloud, however Lance could only give a weak nod, still trying to stop thinking about that moan.

“Lance? Are you alright?” Shiro asked. “Your face looks flushed.”

He whipped his head to Shiro, “It’s the weather! The sun and the humidity, honestly I swear it’s so hot I could melt.” He fumbled on his words.

Shiro chuckled, “I guess you’re right.”

“You're honestly the only person I've met that actually avoided ice cream for so long.” Lance mentioned.

“It’s part of a healthy lifestyle I’m trying to maintain.” Shiro responded.

“What? No cheat days? Come on, I know you do.” Lance nudged him playfully.

Shiro’s eyes cast downwards looking bashful, “Maybe once or twice.”

Lance grinned, sensing a lie behind his words, “Right…”

They sat on the sand right in front of the sea to watch the sunset again. After he's finished with his ice cream, Lance sat silently with his arms tucked under his thighs.

Luna was comfortably laying her head against Shiro’s thigh which sparks a little envy in Lance, to be jealous of a dog.

“I had fun today. Something that I didn't get to experience for a long time.” Shiro spoke. 

It was odd hearing that from Shiro considering he basically live the best life he could have.

“But you have everything? A following on social media, to travel, to experience life.” Lance mentioned.

“Why yes, that is true. Though, I have to admit it feels a little lonely sometimes.”

Lance didn't know what to say and could only stare at Shiro with sheer surprise, finding it hard to believe. Shiro took noticed and their gaze locked, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I-I just never had known and just assume based on the photos on Instagram, you were full of life and happy.” Lance explained.

“Not everything you see is what you would expect on the internet, Lance.” Shiro continued. “But, I'm glad I met you.”

Clearly Lance heard that wrong, Shiro was glad to meet him? He finds that so ridiculous that he couldn't help but chuckle, “You probably say that to your other fans when you bump into them, don’t you?”

“Not all…, only special ones.”

Did Lance hear that right? Did Shiro call him special?

“I’m just me.” Lance admitted.

“And I’m just a normal guy who simply wants to seek life out there and somehow wind up being famous, I'm just an average guy. So that makes both of us.”

Lance stared at his feet with his toes wiggling, to hear what Shiro just told no was just completely unexpected.

“I also read your comments, it's very encouraging.” Shiro stated while scratching the back of his neck.

“You did?” Lance asked back.

“Yeah, it actually made my day. It's actually very sweet now that you think about it. A simple gesture really does mean something special.”

There’s absolutely no way Shiro could be this wholesome. How big of a heart he has towards people. Maybe that's the reason why Lance was undeniably head over heels for him.

Suddenly watching the sunset didn't matter to him anymore, all he wanted was just listen to Shiro talk about basically anything.

When they locked eyes again, there's an unreadable expression on Shiro's face, hard to tell what's currently on his mind. Again, Lance felt himself blushing under his gaze.

He caught Shiro's eyes drifted on his lips, or that could just be simply his imagination.

“We should be watching the sunset.” He mentioned breaking the tension in the air.

Lance willed himself to concentrate the view of the sea and the setting sun. He leaned back against his hands on each side of his body, palms sinking into the warm, soft sand. Just to enjoy the moment. 

Then, he felt the warmth against the top of his hand that prompted Lance to look down only for him to find Shiro's large hand on top of his.

By now, Lance felt the air leaving his body. This can't be happening, he told himself while his gaze never leaving Shiro’s clasped hand on his that he had to close his eyes for a moment just telling himself that this had to be a dream. He opened his eyes again to see nothing has changed.

Lance felt the anxiousness creeping up at the back of his spine, feeling afraid that he wouldn't dare to look up. Scared of meeting Shiro's watchful gaze.

"Lance." His voice was soft, almost tempting that Lance couldn't resist and look up to Shiro.

It proved to be regret because Shiro is giving the softest look to Lance. At that moment, his heart melted into a puddle.

He couldn’t look away and instead, Lance found himself drawn closer towards Shiro almost as if he's being lured by him.

Deep down Lance is terrified at what's about to happen, over the idea that it's not the right thing to do. The outcome after this will eventually ruin the friendship between them.

Lance swallowed thickly, “We probably shouldn’t.” He forced himself to whisper softly, almost to himself.

Shiro heard that no doubt and chose to remain silent. Lance wondered what could he possibly be thinking about at this moment?

Instead, Shiro inched a little more forward while scanning Lance’s face and it only made him more nervous. “Are you scared?” he asked instead.

“Terrified.” And that is indeed the truth, but Lance could feel the excitement bubbling up within him that his body decided to react on its own by moving closer towards Shiro. Screw everything else, after this.

* * *

The following morning felt like a breath of fresh air. Lance woke up with a smile much brighter than the other days. Today was different. When he closes his eyes, he vividly remembered the sunset on the beach yesterday and what happened after the sunset.

He still finds it hard to believe that it happened for real, Shiro kissed him and he recalled kissing him back. His fingers lightly traced the tip of his lips just envisioning the feel of Shiro’s lips against his. He’s so gentle and sweet, making it hard for Lance to actually remember when was the last time he’d been kissed like that.

He let out a little squeal in his bed, officially acting like a lovesick teenager. After spending what felt like forever lying on his bed and daydreaming about Shiro, he finally pulled himself out of bed and head off to give himself a warm morning shower.

He exited out from his bath and casually reached over to his phone to switch it on, setting it aside so he could prepare for the day.

It was instantaneous, his phone was chiming off with notifications repeatedly. So much that it’s starting to get annoying. It puzzled him so much that he reached over to give a check.

Messages upon messages bombarding his phone, so many that he couldn’t read all at once. But Lance was able to get a glimpse of some of the messages, and they’re not kind ones.

Mostly hates and almost threatening ones that made Lance even more confused. He barely knew some of the people and it’s odd that they would send hate messages to him, a complete stranger.

The messages mainly came from Instagram, and that led him to check it out. It’s difficult for him to navigate the app with the outpouring of messages kept coming in. Little by little, the messages slowly starting to make sense because they were threatening him to stay away from Shiro.

Then, he saw it. At first, it was a complete blur to Lance, then denial followed right after. But there are pictures after pictures, all the same ones, showed the beach that he went yesterday with Shiro. The picture taken was such a good angle with the average quality that he could clearly make out his features of him and Shiro.

Someone caught them, or rather someone recognised Shiro on the beach took a photo of them, and it had to be the one that showed them kissing.

A sudden numb feeling overshadowed the joy he felt yesterday. He frantically searched for Shiro’s Instagram only to be greeted by his page set to private. Shiro knew it first before him and took immediate drastic action to stop fans from attacking his page.

The messages kept coming, and the wave of feeling that engulfed only made him want to throw his phone across the room to stop all of this nonsense. But instead, Lance decided to private his Instagram profile as well to stop all messages that are coming through his phone.

He gratefully welcomed the silence. Lance got the first taste of being involved with a cyber attack.

He couldn't fight the feeling away, he needed a solution and fast. With the phone still in his hand, he pulled up the only person he knew that’s capable in this.

“Pidge, it’s Lance. I need your help.”

***

It’s not always that he’s able to walk into Pidge’s lair, (that’s how she calls it). It’s also worth noting that she has strict rules of not letting anyone coming into her house, even those closest to her.

But here he was, in Pidge’s home, completely amazed by the many monitor screens and keyboards all around. Needless to say, he's impressed by her skills.

Lance didn’t waste any more time and Pidge what happened in the last hours, thankfully Pidge remained quiet and allowed him to rant all the way, not once interrupting him and Lance was glad for that.

“So, you want me to remove the massive photos of you and Shiro on the beach?” Pidge questioned.

“Can you do that?” Lance asked.

“It’s not that hard, the only question is, photos like this spread so fast and wide it would be almost impossible to remove all traces of it. That’s how the internet works Lance, once it’s out there, it’s there permanently.”

Lance felt the dreaded disappointment washed over him, “So you’re saying a hacker can’t get the job done?” he asked back.

Pidge's eyes grew soft with sympathy, “I’ll do what I can, but I can’t promise anything.”

He should be at least glad that she’s willing to help him out. Lance sighed, “He probably hates me right now.”

“Or not, I think Shiro is well aware of his exposure on the internet. Besides, if anything he should be angry at the people who took the photos.” She spoke.

She never spoke that way before, and it was reassuring. “Thanks.”

“Did he contacted you?” Pidge asked again.

“No, I don’t know if I should either. He must be feeling stressed from all this.”

“Give him time.” Pidge added, facing her attention on the many screens in front of her and the clicking sounds of the keyboards. She paused for a moment, turning to Lance again, “I can see that he makes you happy, it's written on your face lately. I say, don’t let him go.”

That really touched him, hearing that made Lance a little better.

Lance continued to stay for a few hours until Pidge advised told him to go home but promised to work on trying to remove the photos.

Along the way, the anxiety didn't wear off from him. There's a cloud of fear that seems to follow him all the way back home, the fear of someone actually recognised him in public, Lance couldn't bear the thought of that and prompted him to pick up the pace until he reached the front door of his house.

When he shut the door behind him, Lance was finally able to breathe easily.

For the rest of the day, Lance avoided looking at his phone, despite having already set his Instagram in private, there’s the fear that he would still be receiving messages from Shiro’s crazy fans. He pulled out his phone from his pocket and just stared at it for a good while, part of him wants to call Shiro just to know his current wellbeing, he could only wish that Shiro is doing okay.

***

He barely got any sleep the following day, last night made him completely restless. He took another brave look on his phone again only to find Shiro’s account is still set to private, and by now, Lance is worried for him.

So without thinking twice, he decided to drop him a message in his Instagram, it’s the one feature that he still able to do despite the account being private.

_ “I hope you’re doing okay. I’m sorry.” _ A simple message and it’s the least he could do.

He let his phone drop onto his lap until he hears his phone ringing. Immediately, Lance answered the call. “Hello?”

“Lance, it's Pidge. Thought you wanted a little update from me.”

He tried not to sound disappointed but otherwise brace for whatever news that's coming on him, “Lay it on me, Pidge.”

“I managed to get rid of most of the photos at the same time keeping an eye on any new ones reposted. I underestimated the internet. Since this is the latest hot news in the social media realm, I say give it a week or so for it to die down, then maybe I’ll give it another go with a massive purge deletion. I’m sorry I couldn’t do more.” Pidge explained.

He sighed softly, “I appreciate your help, Pidge.”

“Talk to you soon.” She finished before ending the call.

He dropped his phone for the second time and stared at the time, he should be at the bookstore for work but after what had just transpired Lance didn’t want to be facing the world outside. He’ll just have to call in sick.

And he did just that, spending the entire day binging on Netflix, movie after movie. This is one of his sad boring days.

He heard his phone chimed, hours later after many hours of silence. Enough to bring some ease within him.

It’s a private message from Shiro responding back to him.  _ “Hey, can I call you?” _

Lance reacted swiftly and his fingers were quick enough to reply him back, giving his number to Shiro.

It won’t take long for Lance’s phone to start ringing, “Shiro?”

“Lance.” Shiro spoke, and it felt so good to hear his voice again.

“I’m sorry, for everything.” Lance apologised.

“I think I should be the one sorry in the whole situation. I didn’t think it would come to this.” Shiro responded back. “And I need to say something to get it out of my chest.”

Lance swallowed thickly, feeling afraid. “I’m listening.”

“Things has been pretty bad for you because of me and my popularity. The thing is I really like you, Lance. Meeting you made me feel like myself, and I understand after all this you don’t want to see me anymore–”

“Hold on.” Lance cuts in. “What makes you think that I don’t want to see you again?”

“Umm…., well you’re just so nice and I just figured that you don’t like how you’re basically thrust in the public eye with me around.” Shiro explained.

“I don’t see any problem with that.” Lance told, then remembering the part where Shiro mentioned that he likes him, and it made him blush. “You mentioned that you like me right? Well, I like you too… a lot.”

He hears Shiro let out a breathless laugh, “Great! Soo…. Wanna hang out again?”

A laugh escaped from Lance, he just simply couldn’t help himself, “Yes but are you sure it’s a good idea after what happened?”

“You're probably right. But I don't think I can stay away from you. Damnit Lance, I want to go on dates with you.”

By now, Lance couldn’t stop the grin on his face, “Same here.”

He pretty much can sense Shiro’s smile behind the phone. “So, how about next week?”


End file.
